‘Barbarian’ (bárbaros) is the word used by Plato to describe the early kings of Atlantis (Critias 113a) which is a far cry from being considered sons of gods. The term was normally employed to describe a non-Greek speaking person and is usually translated into English as ‘barbarian’ (Bury, Taylor and Lamb) or as the less pejorative ‘foreigner’ (Jowett).